Chapter 14
She had a very slight Latino complexion that was
complemented with what he considered to have the most attractive brown eyes and
red lips he had ever seen. She had long, brownish-red hair that was swept back
and tied up with a red hair band. She was well-shaped without being particularly curvaceous,
and she stood just short of his own height. She was dressed in a tight white
cotton top that clung around her chest. She wore figure-hugging jeans and Nikes.
David Lutman just stared for a few seconds before
he brought himself back to his senses, suddenly remembering that this stunning
looking girl had just asked him a simple question. ‘Er, yes,’ he finally
stammered.
She had entered the shop some ten minutes earlier,
also looking for a pair of jeans, but had not yet tried anything on. She was
about to leave when, her perspective, she noticed this rather interesting individual walking in.
He was not somebody that she would have called exceptional
in appearance but there was something that compelled her to approach
him, a compulsion which she found strange and overpowering, a compulsion to
walk up to this man and engage him in conversation. And then, when she heard
the British accent, an accent she had loved hearing from in the past, this
rather average-looking tourist suddenly became the most wonderful, longed-for
man in the world.
‘I think the British accent is really cute,’ she
cooed nervously, her smile revealing a perfectly aligned set of bright white
teeth. ‘I was in England only last year for a few months.’
Lutman’s voice went up a pitch, his eyes still firmly fixed on hers. ‘Oh yes…
so, erm… where were you exactly in Britain?’ he added uncomfortably.
‘In a city called Nottingham. Do you know it?’
‘Nottingham? Really?!
I, er, come from Hensfield – it’s erm, it’s just down the road from Nottingham,
about, er, thirty miles east, in fact, yeah, thirty miles.’
She giggled. ‘Hey, right!’
‘So, hmm…’ said Lutman, struggling for words again,
‘erm… oh yeah, by the way, my name’s David – David Lutman.’
‘David. Pleased to meet you, David.’
They shook hands. She smiled broadly. ‘My name’s
Deanne, Deanne Clarkson.’
He also felt himself relaxing. ‘Nice to meet you,
Deanne Clarkson.’
‘And you, too, David Lutman.’ She waited for him to
make the next move. It was only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity
before he finally said, ‘erm, so where did you stay in Nottingham?’
‘Oh, I stayed with a friend of my father’s while he
was working in England a few years ago. He was living in an area called Old Basford for a couple
of years and got to know a guy called Tony, his neighbor, pretty well. They’ve
kept in touch ever since, frequently writing and even visiting each other here
and in Britain. Lovely man. He and his wife have got three beautiful daughters.’
But not as beautiful as you
are, Lutman thought.
‘I’d just graduated and had a bit of time to
spare,’ she continued. ‘I’d always wanted to visit England. I’d always heard that British men were always
charming and polite so I had to find out. Wasn’t quite what I expected, but
that British accent is something else.’
‘So, er, did you meet any nice men out there?’ said
Lutman as his confidence started to build.
‘Oh yes,’ she said cheerfully, ‘I even dated a
couple. Seriously to begin with, but I told them I wasn’t prepared to come and
live with them in England but I’d be quite happy for them to come out here. That put them off a
little of course. Probably that English reserve.’
‘They were daft,’ smiled Lutman. ‘So, are you, are
you… with a loved one now?’
‘No,’ she said firmly, ‘frankly, guys here are all
too forward and sure of themselves. I dunno, I find that strange sometimes. I
kind of quite liked the English though. Quiet, a little introverted maybe, but
they’re reliable. But they are reserved.’
Lutman smiled. That’s me, he
thought.
‘So why do you ask?’ she asked with a broad smile.
‘Oh, I’m er, just curious,’ he said nonchalantly.
‘Not all Brits are like that, you know, that is, being all introverted and
reserved.’
‘So,’ she said softly, ‘how could I describe you
then, David?’
He looked around the shop to see if they were
attracting any attention, or if anyone was looking or listening, but there were
only customers paying attention to clothes, and shop staff paying attention to
customers. ‘Well…’
‘Oh yes, you are!’ she laughed, ‘a typical
Englishman! All shy and introverted!’
‘Oh well, no, no, not totally!’ he stammered. But then he laughed with her.
‘But I like to think that I’m at least trustworthy.’
But then he thought of Claudia. Well, okay, they had hugged and even kissed on
the lips – but perhaps only once could it have been described as anything close
to passionate. Despite plenty of hints, neither of them had made a clear move.
He could not help but firmly believe he was now in the process of ending what
should have been a potentially blossoming romance with Claudia. He then thought
about Deanne's comments on her being happy for an Englishman to come to the
States and live with her.
And then there was going back to work in England. Oh God, he thought, that office job. ‘Well,
I’m not afraid of leaving Britain if it leads to a better life,’ he said firmly and
assuredly.
She smiled and looked to one side. ‘You’re really
cute, you know. What are you doing in Las Vegas?’
He blushed slightly. ‘Oh, I’m on a touring holiday…
and… well, you’re really cute too. Not just cute. I’d even say, really
beautiful, too, Deanne. The most beautiful girl I could ever hope to have met.’
It had taken him just a matter of minutes to say what he had been struggling to
say to Claudia for the past eleven days. It was so easy! It was so
natural!
She smiled. ‘Say,’ Deanne asked, looking at a pair
of jeans that had been dangling on Lutman’s arm ever since they started
speaking, ‘are you buying those?’
He had completely forgotten about them. ‘Well… I
can pick them up tomorrow.’
‘No no, get them now. Why put off till tomorrow
what you can get done today!’
Lutman’s confidence was now at its peak. He felt
assured and assertive, the best feeling he had ever felt. ‘Okay!’ he said
enthusiastically.
He quickly tried on the pair while Deanne was
waiting outside the fitting room.
*
After he had paid for the jeans, Deanne asked,
‘Would you like to join me for a coffee?’
Without any hesitation, Lutman replied, ‘Yes! Hey,
aren't I supposed to invite you? Well, but, erm... I don’t actually like
coffee, unfortunately… so let's make it a tea!’
‘Oh yes,’ she smiled. ‘I forgot. English tea! No
problem! My favorite coffee bar in this city is only a couple of blocks from
here, and they serve tea there. You coming?’
He grinned broadly. ‘What do you think, Deanne?’
They walked out of the shop. ‘I’ve the whole day
free up to this evening,’ he added, ‘but tonight’s plot hasn’t been fixed yet.’
‘Oh, so you’re saying you only might be
free this evening?’
‘No. I am free this evening,’ he said firmly, quickly adding,
‘so would you like to go to the cinema? No, I’m going to rephrase that. Deanne,
I would like to ask you out. I would like to ask you if you would like to go to
the cinema with me tonight.’
‘The movies? Sure! I’d love to!’
‘Good. What time – and well, you know this place
better than I do - do you know the best place we can go?’
She looked into his eyes and smiled. ‘Yeah, there’s a movie at the Brenden
Palms Casino. 6.30 tonight. We can go out afterwards for a dance, if you like.’
‘There’s a cinema at the casino?’
‘Yeah, everything here in Las Vegas can be found in a casino, even movie theaters
and nightclubs.’
He hated the things, but tonight this was going to be an absolute exception.
‘Okay, great! So, let me know where it is and we can meet up there… or,
er, maybe I should be the absolute Englishman and pick you up in a taxi!
How about that?’
‘David, that would be wonderful!’ said Deanne
brightly as they arrived at the door of the coffee shop.
Even she could not believe what was happening to
her. In a matter of a few minutes, she had fallen madly in love with an
Englishman she had just met in a shop and, even now, hardly knew. She tried to
tell herself this was not right, that it was a pretty dangerous whim to follow.
But all of her being was telling her that this man was a nice, kind, gentle,
honest guy. ‘So it’s a date then. Here’s my address.’ She handed him a business
card from her rear pocket.
Lutman’s eyes widened as he examined the card. ‘Oh,
I see! You’re erm, Doctor Deanne J. Clarkson!’
‘Sure am. Anyway, My hotel’s only two blocks away.’ She reached into her pocket
once more. ‘And here’s their card!’
‘The Four Seasons, Clark Avenue. Okay, great. I’ll pick you up at five.’
‘Five it is then! But let’s go in and have that
coffee first.’
‘Tea!’ said Lutman, laughing.
‘Tea it is!’
She put her arm around his and they walked inside.
Any guilt in Lutman’s conscience about betraying
Claudia had vanished for now. In his mind, he was assuring himself that they
had not gone out on any dates. They had not actually expressed their feelings for
each other. Well, she had not. And in Deanne, he felt he had finally found his
voice, his coming, his future. His answer to everything. Here was someone who
seemed very reassuring, a good listener, and understanding. A doctor.
Amidst the chimes of the ubiquitous one-armed
bandits that had even spread to a simple coffee shop, the couple found
themselves a table and placed their orders.
As they waited, he explained to her that his job in Britain was dull and boring, and that he was totally
fed up with the continual process of writing press releases, working for the
council, and receiving incessantly stupid phone calls. He pointed out that he
had deliberately changed the phone number on his mobile so noone but his
immediate family or fellow trekkers could contact him. After adding her number
to his phone’s address book, Deanne told him firmly that the United States was the place where he could carry out any of
his dreams and his desires. He liked the bit about desires.
‘So what do you do, Deanne?’ he asked airily,
finishing his tea. ‘Are you a doctor of science or medicine?’
‘Science - I work with my father. He’s the director
down in the Hartington Physics Laboratories in Phoenix. A place that’s studying all sorts of complicated
things you really wouldn’t understand.’
A key word. Physics. Time travel certainly has a lot to do with
physics! ‘Go on then!’ he laughed, ‘tell me about all the complicated
things I really wouldn’t understand!’
‘You know David,’ she giggled, ‘you don’t really
seem the type who’d be that enthusiastic about physics!’ She then leaned
forward, lowering her voice, and adding, ‘So what do you know about it, then?’
‘Well, I have to confess nothing really,’ he replied,
also leaning forward and lowering his voice, ‘but there are certain areas I’m
particularly interested in.’
‘Such as?’
‘Well, erm, speed, time, Einstein’s theory…’
She smirked. ‘Isn't that a bit geeky? Well, if
you’ve got enough weeks, I’ll be able to explain it all to you!’
‘I’ve got plenty of time,’ said Lutman nonchalantly.
‘Really?’ she said with a mock tone of incredulity.
‘Well… I know physics can be incredibly
complicated but I do have my reasons for wanting to know something about it.’
‘And what’s that, then?’
‘I’ve read one or two books on the topic and, well,
I’d just really like to get your side of the story, and erm…’
She laughed. ‘What story? David, you really don’t
have to try to impress me, you know. You've done the job. I’ve met men who
thought they knew it all and more than once I shot them down in flames!’
‘Ah,’ he said uncertainly. This was the first time
he felt uncertainty, but this quickly passed.
She started stroking Lutman’s left hand with her
right index finger. ‘I would rather talk to a guy who’s just plain and simply
himself and doesn’t need to impress me with physics or science or maths or
anything remotely academic just because I'm a doctor. I just want him to be
himself.’ She then sat upright excitedly and picked up her coffee. ‘Look, if
you really do have the time and you really want to learn a little something on
the subject and what exactly I do, I can take you down to the labs. I’ll give
you a grand tour of the place and equipment.’
‘Sounds great,’ said Lutman, ‘but don’t these
places usually have a lot of secrets, you know, places where you just can’t let
anyone come in?’
The tea and coffee arrived. ‘Well, first of all, as I told you, the laboratory
isn’t here in Las Vegas. It’s a five and a half hour drive. In Phoenix. Secondly, my particular lab isn’t considered top
security. Yeah, there are sections of the complex we can't go to, but there’s
nothing in my place to interest even a first-year student. You’ll get in there,
no problem.’
Lutman sipped his tea. ‘So what are you doing here then,
Deanne?’
‘Oh, God, well, the usual,’ she sighed. ‘I was
tired, bored, fed up with work. You know, rather like yourself. I just wanted a
little vacation. A complete change of atmosphere from the confines of the
office, so to speak. See a bit of the nightlife, people, maybe even gamble a
little.’
‘So when do you go back?’
‘I have to go back tomorrow afternoon,’ she said
dejectedly.
‘Oh.’ His disappointment was hard to disguise. Surely
not? Surely this was threatening to be an extremely brief encounter?
He too was due to leave tomorrow.
‘I actually love Phoenix,’ she added,
struggling to put on a brave face, ‘I’ve always said to myself that’s the place
where I’ll always be. A city in the middle of the desert. It’s where I’ll
always live and eventually die. Yeah, it’s a stupid thing to say, but, well,
what the hell. That’s me.’
Lutman’s pocket bleeped, and instinctively removed
his cellphone. ‘Ah, battery’s low.’
‘Can’t help you there,’ said Deanne, ‘different
phone, sorry.’
Lutman shoved it back into his pocket. ‘Hey, come
on Deanne, look, I , I can be here longer, if you really want me to. Look, why
don’t you just delay your return for another twenty-four hours? Give us a
chance to get to know each other a little bit more. Hey, by then we might know
for sure whether we really do like each other, or we don’t. If we don’t, well,
I’ll, erm…’
‘Do you have any idea how you’re going to get back
if you stayed longer?’
Lutman shook his head and smiled. ‘None at all,’ he
said assuredly. ‘Yes, I’m on a trekking holiday and my minibus leaves here and
goes back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning. But… well, perhaps we can
make a decision after tonight.’
Deanne just looked at him, expressionless and wide-eyed.
That was not the answer she wanted.
Lutman understood immediately. ‘Deanne, look, if
you’ll stay longer, I’ll stay longer!’
She brightened up and took his hand. ‘Good. A firm
decision! That’s what I want! Okay. Let’s see how things go tonight, and if it
doesn’t work, fair enough, we both go back to our original plans. But if it
does… I’ll call my father tomorrow, make up some kind of excuse, you know, and
tell him I found this rather charming Hugh Grant-type Englishman who’s taking
me out to the movies!’
‘Me?’ he laughed, ‘like Hugh Grant?’
‘Okay then, someone close!’
‘Another coffee, Deanne? My pleasure again!’
*
As they enjoyed their second round of tea and
coffee, Lutman told her all about the trek and the many places he had visited.
Instinctively holding hands, they left the coffee shop an hour later and
strolled aimlessly past the multi-colored neon glare that surrounded the
endless restaurants, casinos, and everything else associated with Las Vegas.
Except it was still daylight.
Five minutes later their arms were wrapped around
each other. Time had become irrelevant, but Lutman was only too aware that soon
he had to be back at the hotel for the group’s evening get-together.
‘Are there any nice girls on your trek?’ Deanne
asked.
‘Oh yes,’ he answered truthfully, but then lied,
‘but… none of them are really my type.’
‘You know, it’s all so weird,’ said Deanne quietly, ‘well, to be frank, it’s
stupid even, stupid that it’s only been a short space of time, but, I don’t
know, I just feel I know you so much…’ She stopped, and looked down at her
feet. ‘I’ve truly never felt this way about someone before.’
Lutman sat up and spoke assuredly. ‘Deanne, truly,
I’ve never met anyone like you before. I’ve never felt so much in love with a
girl in such a short space of time... I’ve never felt like this, just like you,
I never even thought that there was any truth in love at first sight, but the
moment I saw you in the shop… I just knew… He glanced at his watch.
‘Damn! I have to get back to the hotel! Oh GOD!’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Deanne, ‘you have your
meeting, and then we can then get to the movie theater without hurrying. You
don’t need to bother about ordering a taxi. I’ll sort that out when we’re
ready.’
‘Look, tell you what,’ Lutman said breezily, ‘I
noticed a bookshop a couple of doors down from the hotel. I don’t have to be at
the meeting. You wait in there while I quickly nip in and tell Janet, my tour
leader.’ In truth he did not want to be seen with Deanne by any of the group,
particular Claudia.
‘Which hotel?’
‘The Brown Sands Tapestry,’
‘I know it. What’s the bookshop called?’
‘I don’t know, unfortunately.’
‘If it’s the one I’m thinking of,’ Deanne said
slowly, almost in a whisper, and adding a bemused look on her face, ‘then I bet
you don’t know what kind of bookshop that is!’
‘Well, it looked like a bookshop, as far as I could
make out!’ he laughed.
She shook her head and grinned. ‘I see you really
don’t know Las Vegas very well! Hey look, I’ll be around. There are
plenty of other shops here. I’ll be in one of those. You’ll soon find me.’
‘Okay. Erm, you will wait for me, won’t you Deanne?’
‘Of course I will. And David…’
‘Yes?’
She looked at him from top to bottom. ‘Do you have
any long pants you could wear?’
‘Pants?’
‘Yeah, sorry, trousers.’
He looked at his white shorts and top, and
announced, ‘well, I do have some new jeans to try!’
‘Okay, and for God’s sake, change that tee-shirt
too!’
*
As he walked across the hotel parking lot, Lutman
saw Jeannie approaching from another direction with a bag of clothes shopping.
This gave him an idea.
‘Jeannie!’ he shouted as she was about to walk into the hotel.
‘Hi David!’ she breezed back, ‘How’s it going?
Where’s Claudia then?’
He took a deep breath. ‘Erm, Jeannie, I want you to
do me a really big favor.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Look, I’m going to ask you not to mention this to
anybody, but… I’ve got a date tonight. I’ve just meant the most beautiful girl
ever. I won’t be at the meeting. Can you let Janet know I won’t be there? Don’t
tell her why.’
‘Sure! But what shall I tell her?’
‘Just… well, tell her that I’ve actually bumped
into an old friend I met on my last trip, and that … he and I are going out for
a drink. Or something like that…’
Jeannie looked at him with slight bemusement.
‘Isn’t it a bit late in the day now find a date?’
‘Yeah, I know, we’re leaving tomorrow. But Jeannie,
if tonight goes really well, it’s highly probable I won’t be going back with
you.’
‘What? Oh… okay,’ she said, trying to sound
cheerful, ‘it’s your life, your happiness, so if you feel if it’s what you want
to do...’
‘Thanks Jeannie. I promise to make it up to you
some time,’
‘Maybe send me a wedding invitation?’
‘Hey, give us a chance first!’
‘Okay David, have fun!’
‘Thanks again. Love you!’
‘See ya! And good luck!’
*
It had taken almost the whole trek just to get Claudia to sit with him inside
his tent, but mere minutes to be arm in arm and holding hands. He was about to
take out Doctor Deanne Clarkson, a beautiful American physicist, to a cinema in Las
Vegas. And it now seemed clear to him that as a consequence, she had given him
the first true clues to the fate that had been dictated to him by the visit of
his future self some weeks previously. He was convinced that she was his
destiny, and every ounce of his being told him he had to follow it.
He followed Jeannie inside the hotel a minute
later, and counted himself fortunate that he did not bump into any of the other
members of the group inside. He was supposed to be sharing a room with Marcus,
but the Canadian was still busy enjoying himself with the Australian
girls, something which could be clearly heard as he walked past their
door. And it was not just giggling and laughing. Good luck mate, he
thought, on getting them both into the same bed and at the same time.
Within ten minutes he had washed and changed.
Taking care not to be seen, he rushed out of the hotel and found Deanne in
front of a men’s clothing shop window just a block down. Even though she had
put a light white jacket on top of her tight white cotton top to be a little
less conspicuous, she was fairly easy to spot.
‘Now that looks much better!’ she gushed
approvingly, eyeing him up eagerly as she offered her hand for his.
She called for a taxi on her cell phone. It duly
arrived within five minutes and subsequently took them to the Brenden
Palms Casino.
They quickly found the movie theater and
sat in the back row. A Woody Allen movie, which Lutman knew absolutely nothing
about and had little interest in, was playing to an almost empty auditorium.
But it soon became clear that Deanne was not interested in the film either.
In relative privacy, they snuggled up together. When the brightness of the
movie screen switched to a darkness that sent the rows of seats at the back
into comparative gloom, Lutman took the opportunity to kiss her neck. This was
something he would never have dared to have done previously with any girl on a
first date, but he felt that he could do almost anything.
She slowly turned her head towards him, moved
closer, and then kissed him full on the lips.
*
Two hours later, the movie was over: it was now
dark outside. After a short conversation about what the movie may have been
about as neither of them paid any attention to it, Deanne invited him to her
hotel for a tea. To get there, they chose to walk along the garishly neon-lit Las
Vegas Boulevard, or as better known to Las Vegans, tourists and gamblers, The
Strip.
Arm in arm, they enjoyed the bright lights and
dazzling excesses of the countless casinos and over-extravagant visual displays
of the lavishly and excessively-designed hotels so typical of the city. Every
one of them would have stories of how financial hopes and dreams became real
or, more realistically, certainly in Lutman’s mind, shattered and ruined. He
had been one of the very lucky ones. He had found his prize.
Lutman was then brought to his senses when he
noticed several groups of men handing out little magazines in the strip. One of
whom caught his attention, and foisted a copy into his hands. He then got a
funny look from Deanne, and suddenly realized he had got hold of a catalogue
that was full of scantily-clad, topless, bare backsided, or totally naked young
women.
After sheepishly throwing it away, Deanne smiled.
Realizing his ignorance, she informed him that prostitution was legal in Las
Vegas. ‘Anyway,’ she added with a slight twinkle in her eye, ‘you don’t
have to pay for that kind of thing.’
Lutman smiled. He knew what she meant.
They walked for another
twenty minutes without further incident. The doorman greeted them as they
entered a lavish four star hotel that was fronted with the ubiquitous casino,
and looked like every other casino they had walked past. The novelty of Las
Vegas had now completely worn off for Lutman.
Deanne invited him to play on one of the black jack
tables, but after five minutes he lost thirty dollars. ‘That will well and
truly do me,’ he said. ‘I’ve no intention of becoming destitute over the next
hour or so!’
She took him by the hand and walked into the biggest hotel lobby Lutman had
ever seen. The male receptionist recognized Deanne immediately, smiling. ‘Room
644?’ he asked tonelessly.
Nodding, she took the key and they walked into a
large, glass elevator with a view over the casino.
The contrast was amazing when they exited on the
sixth floor. There was not a slot machine to be seen, and the silence was
almost deafening, with only the hum of the air conditioning. There was
absolutely no audible indication of the raucous activity from the ground floor.
Deanne’s room was just a short walk from the
elevator. She unlocked the door and entered, pulling Lutman inside.
Without putting on the light, she closed and locked
the door. She then put her arms around him tightly, kissing him passionately
and guiding him onto an extremely large and sumptuous bed.
David Lutman did not return to his hotel that night.
Chapter 15 >
